Learn to Live Again
by RaineLuinil
Summary: No Nerv, no Evas. Just highschool and teenage issues. My version of the pilots' lives in a normal world.
1. Read this first!

**READ THIS FIRST!**

Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic! Before reading, please read this section, as I won't be pasting the credits on every chapter. This is easier and I'll write this kind of introduction on every story I post here.

First of all, the **disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters, they are al © Gainax and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (concept and designs).

Another important detail is that in this story there are no angels, no evangelions and no Nerv. Why? Well, most of you may know Evangelion (the manga or the anime) has a difficult and meaningful plot, and I'm sure many of you have already seen 'The end of Evangelion'. The original story concentrates only on a few characters (if not just Shinji) and since they are so particular, I began wondering 'How would they be if there were no Evas?' (Note: this fic is a bit similar to the chapter where Misato is a teacher, Rei smiles, etc, but I did **NOT** base my story on that chappie!)

Their personalities and behaviors are so particular and real that I thought it'd be interesting to concentrate more on them. So basically, they are the same characters, same place, different circumstances.

Some of them will change with time. They're humans, after all.

About the title? Well, as I mentioned before, the characters are humans and are bound to change their points of view and ideas (some of them), but you'll notice that as the story develops.

Constructive critiques, opinions and observations are welcome, so don't be afraid of commenting if there's something you don't like or find irrelevant.

And if you have any questions, just ask .

Now you can safely go to chapter 1!

Thank you for reading this and enjoy!


	2. Chapter One

**Learn to Live Again**

**1. Same Difference**

The sun rose lazily through the firmament, dying it with golden and ruby tones. Birds began singing shyly, as if they feared to wake up everybody with their songs.

People got up anyways, not because of the birds' melodies, but for their noisy alarm clocks. Mondays were always full of curses, sleepyheads and delays. If only Sundays lasted a few more hours… maybe a few more weeks…

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

_Just ten more minutes…_

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

_Ok, just five…_

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

_Fine! I'll get up…_ thought a light-blue haired girl, as she set off her white alarm clock with her left hand, eyes closed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she got up. Outside the colors were shifting as the sun rays reached the half-opened window of the girl's room.

The name of the girl was Rei Ayanami.

Rei studied in the local school, which wasn't too far away her home. In fact, she used to walk to school everyday, watching the landscapes, listening to the birds singing and observing the other people's behaviors. She hardly ever opened her mouth or hummed any song: the girl preferred to listen. Always listen.

Not many people knew her, besides her classmates. She never went to discos or to shops, unless she really needed to buy something. Instead, she frequented the library, where reigned peace and quiet. She loved art. It didn't matter whether it was art, theatre or music, Rei would silently enjoy them.

The girl walked lost in her thoughts. Her surroundings ignored her, as usual. She seemed almost invisible to the world, even to her relatives. School was no different: she didn't have friends and her grades were average. A few teachers who knew her sometimes told her that she would be better if she only concentrated a bit more on their subjects, but she ignored them. Why? She thought school and almost everything was boring.

The few subjects she really liked were music, literature and English. But today she only had English, along with the other boring lessons: maths, physics, chemistry.

Sighing, she walked into her classroom which happened to be almost empty. The only people who arrived early (like her) were Hikari Horaki, the class delegate, Asuka Langley, an arrogant and noisy girl, and Shinji Ikari, a shy and strange guy.

"Morning, Ayanami." Greeted Hikari, half a smile in her face. As the person in charge of the class, she treated everyone equally, except for one person: Touji Suzuhara, the school bully.

"Hi." replied Rei and went to her seat. She took out of her bag the book she had been reading recently and erased the world around her.

Two seats to her right sat Shinji, who gave her quick and shy glances. He always seemed absent and didn't like to talk to anyone unless it was necessary, and was always picked by Touji for being so 'odd'. Next to him was Asuka, who was talking to Hikari about her great projects and abilities. That was Asuka, reminding the world that she was special and too important to live with such common people around her.

"I'm sure this year I'll get the highest marks, Hikari! But don't worry, I'll give you some opportunities too…" the conversation went on and on, but only Hikari was listening. Asuka was so different from the rest…

But Rei was the most different, mysterious and silent. Nobody knew anything about her or her life…

Soon other students arrived and the bell rang, announcing the arrival of the day's lessons.

"Attention, class!" roared the science professor, Ritsuko Akagi "Today we'll begin with a little project, which may be finished for next week. So choose a partner and take notes. You will investigate…" and she went on giving instructions about an apparently never-ending research about the latest developments of science in relation to medicine and health in general.

"Like we need to know that…" muttered Touji, who had arrived late for class, yet again. He never cared about any subject and managed to get the lowest marks. Many times he went to see the principal, due to his terrible behavior.

"Shut up!" hissed his best friend, Kensuke Aida, who always found science quite enjoyable. "This is simply great!"

Touji gave him a little punch, clearly annoyed. Kensuke loved unusual and weird things. Whenever they went to the cinema, they would only watch sci-fi films. He also had many models of planes, yets and space ships all over his room. A particular guy, he was. How come they were friend, being so different?

A few minutes later everyone was paired with somebody, except for Rei. The girl didn't even bother to take her eyes off her book, which was hidden behind her desk. She didn't look up until she felt a light touch on her shoulder. She looked to her right, to find two brown eyes staring at her.

"Ayanami. You don't have a partner, do you?" Hikari smiled. "You can come with me and Asuka if you want. The professor says we can form a little group of three if anyone's left alone."

"… Ok."

Asuka stood a few steps away and eyed Rei cautiously, as if it was the first time she saw her.

"Hikari, are you sure?" she whispered to her friend, who just nodded. "I mean, who knows her? Maybe she won't do anything… or worse, ruin our precious and perfect work…!" she was cut off by the delegate.

"Calm down, Asuka! I'm sure she will help!" that was Hikari, always optimistic.

The day went on, following the same routine: Rei getting lost in her books and thoughts, Asuka wanting everyone to notice her intelligence, Hikari taking care of important class matters, Shinji hiding from people, Touji causing trouble and Kensuke trying to calm him down. The others were just too normal.

At lunch the students usually gathered in the campus, forming little groups and chatting happily. All but Rei.

She went to her secret spot, which was behind some trees and bushes, and sat silently. She had taken her book with her, but left it by her side –she needed to eat first-.

Her lunch consisted of some vegetables and chicken, another routine. She sometimes ate fish and rice, but it depended on what she found in the fridge the previous night.

Rei thought about her home. It was always silent and static. Her parents were never around and she had learned to do everything by herself. Always concentrating on her life and never letting anyone in it…

Everything had been alright, but now she was feeling something different. As if…

"Do you come here to think about life, or to escape from everyone else?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Who's there?" she spoke, surprised. Had somebody found her secret place? Or had she been followed?

"Just me." A slim figure appeared from behind the nearest tree. It was a boy. A tall, silver-haired boy. _What the heck?_, thought Rei, _is he from our school? I haven't seen him before… he seems odd…_

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The boy said, smiling at her.

"What are you doing here?" the girl demanded.

"Well, I was about to ask you the same. Since everyone is having lunch out there in groups, seeing somebody alone makes me curious. And I was just passing by and found you…" he sat next to her.

Rei began feeling odd, as nobody really cared for what she did, or at least, never asked her directly. As far as she remembered, she had always seemed invisible to the rest, and getting used to it didn't help at all. But now…

"So, do you come here just to think?"

"…" the girl remained silent, studying him with her crimson eyes. She didn't smile either. She never did.

He, however, kept smiling, patiently waiting for her answer.

"That's… none of your busyness." Rei stated and got up to leave, not noticing the book she had left on the ground. "Bye."

The boy saw the book and took it, but when he tried to spot the girl she was gone.

"Hamlet?" he thought out loud, reading the title "then she actually _likes_ literature…" and smiling, he took the tome to his next class.

Rei arrived way too early for her last two periods. English waited for her. She took her seat and searched in her bag for her folder and pencil box.

'_That guy..._' she thought '_he has the same eyes as me… but at the same time they are so…_ _different_…'

All her classmates arrived ten minutes later, chatting and laughing. After everyone sat, the English teacher arrived.

Her name was Misato Katsuragi, and was quite young for the profession. With her 29 years, she was always cheerful and lively. Her purple hair matched her brown eyes, and her smile captivated every single one of her male students. Girls found her either annoying or friendly, but generally Misato had no problems with anyone.

"Ok, class, have you got your books?" she began, sitting on her desk "remember that the exam you're taking in eight months is quite important and I don't want any of you to fail."

"God, she's sooooo gorgeous…" drooled Touji, never taking his eyes off her. Four seats on the front, Hikari and Asuka frowned.

"How can he be so stupid?" whispered the brunette to her friend.

"I don't know… you know he's an idiot." stated Asuka, glaring at the teacher.

Rei was the first one to take her English book and paid attention to every word Misato said. She also took notes and felt quite optimistic when the class ended. The first exams would begin in four weeks and she was looking forward to them. When the bell rang, she and Shinji were the last ones who left the classroom.

Boys and girls chatted everywhere, planning meetings and parties, or just talking about their interests. Rei, unlike everyone, had nobody to greet or say 'see you tomorrow', but she was already used to that.

Walking slowly and observing her surroundings, she suddenly came across a tall student who looked at her with his ruby eyes. _'It is him…'_ thought Rei, unsure about how to react.

The boy just smiled at her and waved 'bye', before turning around and walking away.

Rei just stood there, paralyzed.

Back home, Rei sat on the couch, alone. What this guy said in their first meeting made her wonder if she had been right to act like she did. All her life she had been invisible to everyone, and that was ok to her. She never needed friends or anyone to talk to: she had herself for those irrelevant things. But… were they really irrelevant?

His words had reached a part of her mind that had been forgotten since her childhood, when she was almost like everyone else. Now that Rei analyzed her situation, nobody ever cared for her or her feelings. Her parents sometimes asked about school or stuff like that, but never about her own happiness.

Was she afraid of the crowds? No, that was for sure. But still… she had always been so different from everybody… And suddenly this silver-haired guy came from out of nowhere and made her realize that she was a lonely person…

Everything was the same as always, but somehow Rei felt now there was something…

…different.

- o -

_Yay! I finished the first chappie! Thank you for reading! This chapter is maybe a bit confusing, but it's like an introduction to the charas… I think I'll rewrite it later… I like it, but feel some things can be improved. _

_Thank you!_

_RL_


	3. Chapter Two

**Learn to Live Again**

**2. Day Sleeper**

"Nice one, Horaki!" cheered the music professor, Aoba Shigeru, after the girl finished playing a beautiful melody with her violin. "Keep up the good job!"

'Hmph… I can do better.' Thought a jealous Asuka, as she steeped closer to the teacher and announced: "My turn!"

The red haired girl began playing a nice song, but due to her eagerness and anxiety, she lost track of the rhythm and ended up making a mess. Noticing that the teacher wanted to speak, she panicked. Was she doing wrong? No! Nobody was better than her!

Not willing to be corrected, Asuka kept playing till she was exhausted.

"Langley, you've got a lot of energy" began Aoba "but you still hurry up too much… next time remember not to be so anxious." And the class went on filled with the music of every student's instruments.

Rei played her violin quite well, but she could never manage to improve her style. No matter how many times she practiced, she seemed to be stuck, blocked by something she did not know of.

This, however, did not prevent her from enjoying what she did: Rei just loved music.

Soon the class was over, but before the students could go out of the room, the teacher called their attention and gave them a few last instructions:

"You were all very good today, so for next class I want you to prepare and perform something new. You can write your work if you like, but it must be your own. Play it alone, or in groups, but these may only be up to three people. Ok, class dismissed!"

And with this, he was the first to leave the room. When the students could no longer see their teacher, many curses and complains were muttered. Some even kicked chairs.

"Like we have nothing else to do…" moaned Touji, as if he had been sentenced to work in a coal mine for a month. He hated that stupid class and those stupid classical instruments. If he had to play an instrument, it would definitely be an electric guitar or something like that.

"C'mon, Touji, we'll prepare it in pairs, what do you say? That way it'll be a lot easier!" Kensuke patted his back. The first one smiled. His best friend surely knew how to cheer him up.

"Ok, but you'll write the work down!"

Kensuke's smile fell. He suddenly seemed unsure about something…

"Oi, Touji. Erm… you know that writing music is not one of my greatest abilities…" he took a pen from his pocket and played with it.

Touji's mood darkened a bit, but before he could start complaining again, a boy passed in front of his eyes. It was Shinji Ikari.

"That's it!" he cried in joy. "Ikari!" he called.

The boy turned around quickly and shyly. He looked like he wanted to be in any other place but there.

"What do you want?" he asked, not daring to go forward or backwards.

"Wanna join our little group? For this stup… eh, I mean, this wonderful homework?" Said Touji with a scary smile. Before Shinji could open his mouth, the other continued: "I know you write songs! I've seen you the other day! I'm sure the three of us will make a cool team!" he grinned.

"I… I… well, I…" Shinji babbled, but was cut off again, this time by Kensuke.

"See ya this afternoon in front of the school's main building! We'll walk to my house from there!" and the happy duo walked away, leaving the third with a reluctant expression on his face.

-o-o-o-

"Say, Asuka. Would you like to prepare this music piece with me and the girls? We've got some time before the actual performance!" said Hikari to her best friend as they walked to their next class. "I'm sure they'll be asking us to play our own songs for the end of the year… they always do that."

Asuka was hearing, but not exactly listening. Her mind was somewhere else. Suddenly, she stomped the floor once and shouted.

"That stupid teacher! I'll show him that I'm not anxious or whatever he thinks!"

Hikari just looked at her friend, shocked.

"Oh, sorry Hikari." Apologized the girl "I think I'll do this alone… I don't want to bother you or the girls…" she was determined not to fail.

The brunette shook her head and said "Ok."

Hikari often thought that Asuka needed vacations, not from school or academic matters, but of herself. She pushed herself too much to show the others that she could actually do it. Be the best, always the best…

The girl wondered if Asuka would ever realize that there were other important things in life.

"Horaki! What are you doing standing like a statue? You'll be left behind!" called the maths teacher while her classmates entered the classroom. She blinked and apologized before following.

-o-o-o-

Maths wasn't one of his favorite subjects, but Shinji often managed to pass. He watched as the professor filled the blackboard with complicated formulas and numbers.

"So, to understand Trigonometry you must know clearly the following forms…" recited the teacher, but very few were paying attention.

'God' thought the brunette 'this is sooooooo boring… I wonder if anyone's actually taking notes…' and he scanned the classroom.

Touji was sleeping with his book standing in front of him so that nobody noticed… unless they got close enough to hear his snores. Kensuke was writing something down. He seemed concentrated…

Shinji looked at his own notebook, but it was blank. 'Damn, I should be listening… and taking notes.' But before he could write more than twenty words, his concentration faded.

Again left with his thoughts, he looked around one more time. There sat the invisible Rei Ayanami, two seats away from him. The boy stared at her for some time.

'Poor Ayanami… she seems so lonely. I wonder if she has any friends outside school.'

She suddenly turned and her red eyes met his brown ones. The boy turned his head and pretended to be writing something down.

Shinji didn't like to look at other people when they were looking back at him. It made him feel uneasy, odd, scared. But at the same time he couldn't stand to be completely on his own. Nobody understood, not even his father. His mother had died when he was about three, so he couldn't remember her well enough to think of what she would have said or done.

His father, Gendo Ikari, never said anything to him and paid little attention to his son. One of the few timed he had done so, he sent Shinji to a psychologist, who often told him that he had a trauma for losing his mother at such a short age, but always reminding him that he was a _man_, and every man is able to solve his problems sooner or later.

Shinji never opened himself to the psychologist, anyway. He had his own little world, and felt secure when nobody tried to get there.

He thought that he was alone in the world. But now that he had noticed Ayanami…

-o-o-o-

Rei had been taking notes of the mathematical formulas until she felt that someone was looking at her. She looked up and saw the Ikari boy.

He seemed to panic when she caught him and returned to his notebook. 'Weird guy. But that's not my problem.' She said to herself and going back to her own busyness.

She didn't like the teacher: he was too boring. Always speaking as if he was a text book himself. Did he ever get tired? She stared at her paper, listening to that old man's babbling. Next class would be literature! She remembered happily, but never showing it on her face. Soon she would travel to another world full of poetry, fantasy and imagination…

And the bell rang.

"Yeah!" cried Kensuke, waking Touji up.

"Wazzup, man? Can't I get a proper rest…?" he began, but then was fully awake "OH, YEAH! G'bye, horrible numbers!" and he got up, knocking down a defenseless Shinji, who just fell on the floor.

Not even noticing this, Suzuhara left the room, followed by Kensuke.

The break lasted ten minutes, enough time for Rei to wander through the corridors looking for a mysterious ruby-eyed young man. She didn't even know why she was doing that… maybe it was because she had been so rude to him. And he even smiled at her the previous day! 'Man, that's odd…' she thought

'Ah, whatever.' She finished, resuming her search. This was a waste of time. Seriously.

Rei walked to her classroom, not noticing a shadow that watched her carefully. She opened the door and walked in.

"Ayanami, you're early." Said professor Ryouji Kaji with a smile as the girl entered the room. He was always the first one to get there, like he didn't have anything else to do. He was a very particular teacher: his lessons always had something remarkable.

"… maybe." Answered Rei, not even looking at him. She went to her desk and sat, ready for work.

Soon her other classmates arrived and Kaji could begin with his class.

"He's sooo gorgeous…" commented a dreamy Asuka to a smiling Hikari. Both girls giggled. Kaji had that effect on most of girls as he was young and attractive.

"I want all of you to take the books you're reading for this month and write a little about the main character of the story. Analyze his or her personalities, behaviors, surroundings, etcetera." Many students moaned angrily. "I'll be expecting the works ten minutes before lunch!" he added, still smiling.

Rei was happy with everything related to arts. She was about to take her copy of the original version of Hamlet… when she realized it wasn't in her bag.

'What the…? Where is it!' she searched desperately under her desk, in her bag (twice) and looked under the nearest desks. Nothing.

Before she ran to the school library, Rei remembered the events of the previous day… _him_! It had been at lunch, when that weird guy appeared! She must have forgotten her book there!

'Eagerness to disappear isn't good.' She stated before going to the teacher's desk and informing Kaji of her loss.

"Well, Ayanami, you read quite a lot, so I'm sure you'll be able to perfectly describe Hamlet!" he replied "I'm sure you'll write something good!"

'Ok…' Rei sat back on her chair and began her work. _Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark…_ and she went on.

An hour later everybody was handing his or her papers, eager to leave for lunch. When Rei gave Kaji hers, he called her back and commented:

"Ayanami, this is very good! See? I told you that you can write wonderful compositions! Also… your point of view is awesome! I never thought a high school student would be able to analyze like _this_…!" and he patted her back.

"Professor Kaji!" Asuka came forward "Did you read mine?" always determined to be noticed…

"Let me see… Langley…. Yes, here it is." He found her paper "Well, your work's pretty good too, but you skipped Romeo's friendship with Mercutio. Remember he's important too."

Her expression stiffed, but Kaji rewarded her with a smile. "I know next time you'll write everything!" he said before the bell rang.

Rei didn't pay attention to this little incident, as she was eager to go to her secret place to recover her book.

When she was finally there she looked everywhere: under every leave and behind every bush. But the tome wasn't anywhere to be seen. Rei sat, opening her lunch box, depressed. She had been so sure her copy was there… and nobody ever went to that place…

She blinked. Except for…

"Meditating again?" a voice took her by surprise, just like the last time. She turned around, but there wasn't anyone around. She got up and looked around, when a silver head popped from the branches of the nearest tree. "Hi!"

Rei didn't scream or shriek, but her eyes were wide open.

The boy smiled widely. She was about to leave, when he spoke again.

"Looking for this?" his hand appeared from behind the leaves, holding her precious book. At first, she didn't take it. She was still shocked from the upside-down head facing her.

"You… took it?" she managed to say after a while.

He nodded. He then climbed down of the tree and stood in front of her. She looked at him. He looked at her.

"So… you're taking it or not?" he asked with an amused expression. She slowly reached for the tome and held it in her hands, not taking her eyes from his.

"Thank you. I thought… I'd lost it…" she said, unable to believe she was sharing her trivial thoughts with someone else. He just smiled and then looked behind her.

"Are you eating all that?" he pointed to her forgotten lunch box. She turned and nodded her head, sitting again and expecting him to leave.

"I'll let you think… it seems you like to do that." Rei looked up to replay, but he was already gone. 'Who is he, anyway?' she wondered. But relieved now that she had her Hamlet back, she ate happily. Her smile absent.

When she had finished, she opened it to continue with the story. But there was something unexpected between the pages. She blinked twice before recognizing the object.

It was a flower.

-o-o-o-

Rei's home was not too far away from school, and surrounded by parks and pretty landscapes. She walked slowly this time, wondering.

What had happened that day? Well, she had music and maths homework. She had been praised by the literature teacher and now she had a flower inside a book. What? She didn't understand a thing.

She had once read that best things happened when you less expected. But she didn't need to be the best student or those kinds of things… School was boring, anyway. Besides, she had to write a song for next week, and she wasn't even paired with anyone. She would have to do this alone, as usual. Not that she needed anyone to play her violin…

And thinking about violins, a beautiful song filled the air. This took her off her thoughts and enchanted her. It was so tender, yet so sad… and now the melody's colors shifted from purple and blue to red and gold.

Who was playing that violin? She wondered, starting to follow the song. Rei walked every time faster till she reached one of the city parks. There was nobody there, but the song still filled the air.

Not daring to interrupt, Rei sat on one of the white benches and enjoyed the music, unaware of the passing time.

When she finally realized it was late, she got up and ran home, always thinking 'I wonder if I can play it…'

Opening the door f her room, she took her violin and said "Ok, let's go!" and played. She tried to remember the song, but it was almost impossible: it was too colorful and meaningful.

However, the tunes she played sounded refreshing and new, and guided her to write a song which made her smile for the first time since she had memory.

-o-o-o-

Next day Rei was feeling a lot better than usual, and even greeted every one of her classmates (though she didn't smile to them), who stared at her afterwards.

"Since when Ayanami cares about any of us?" asked an astonished Touji after saying 'Hi to Rei. Kensuke looked as clueless as he did, so he didn't bother to continue with the subject.

Classes went on normally, lunch as usual. The girl surprised herself expecting the silver-hared student to join her in her secret spot, but he didn't show up. Her mood went a bit gloomy after this, but she didn't pay attention to it as she headed for the last lesson of the day.

She always arrived before time with one or two students after her, but this time the classroom was completely deserted.

She didn't stop until she reached her desk and sat, waiting. Time passed. Two minutes… three, four, five. Rei began to put her folder and books under her desk, but her hand touched something that was not wood. She grabbed and took it from the cold space to find a flower.

Another flower? What was going on? 'Did this guy…? No,' she thought 'he doesn't even know which class I'm in. Then…'

SLAM!

The door opened and Asuka came in, clearly annoyed. Rei put the flower away and remained silent. Hikari came in and approached the short haired girl.

"Hey Ayanami! We can't gather in my house for the science project yet, so we'll investigate individually to catch up…" and she handed Rei some papers with the themes she had to look up.

"Ok." Was her only reply.

"Hikari, beware of the beast!" Asuka suddenly screamed, as Touji walked past the delegate to get to his seat. He frowned and mumbled "Bitch…"

"What did you just say, jackass!" roared the girl as she stepped closer to punch him, but was stopped by a serious Hikari, who stood between them.

"Please, stop. I don't want anyone to get hurt!" she stated, looking straight at Asuka's ocean eyes. She even looked scary.

"Ok, sorry, Hikari." Apologized Langley. "But this is not over, dumbass!" she threatened Touji, who whispered "Fuck you."

-o-o-o-

The next day Rei got another flower, again under her desk. Still wondering whether this guy –she was sure it was a guy- was mistaking her seat for other girl's.

Biology, maths again and science passed rather quickly. Rei was still lost in thought. At lunch, she was determined to avoid her usual spot and ran towards the library. She had eaten in the classroom and needed to _read_… anything to keep her brain entertained.

When she was reaching the library's door, she felt that someone was looking at her. She turned her head, but before she could see whatever was behind her, she bumped someone and fell.

"Well, well, a bit hasty, aren't we?" a male voice joked. Rei stood up to face Kaji.

"I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't looking…" she apologized, but he shook his head and replied with a smile.

"It's ok, Ayanami. It was a little accident." She cleaned some dust from her green skirt. "But go more carefully next time: Anyone could think you're daydreaming!" and he laughed.

She didn't reply, but she seemed amused. A half smile fought to appear in her pale face, but failed.

"Oh, I'm late…" Kaji looked to his watch "See ya around." And ran away. Rei just stepped into the library and began her search.

Last hours she would have English, yay!

This time was the first she arrived at the same time as her classmates. Misato entered the room right after them and greeted everyone with her usual grin. That day everyone chatted practicing their English, Misato correcting them every now and then.

Kensuke and Touji couldn't speak properly without the help of their manuals. Or maybe it was the beautiful purple haired distraction? Shinji talked calmly with Hikari and Asuka (though she didn't speak to him), but eyed Rei twice before the class ended. No homework was given, and the students walked out happily.

Rei began to put her things away, but again found something under her desk. This time it was a _letter_.

Blushing, the girl opened it and read the few words written by machine. When she finished, she was completely lost.

The paragraph consisted only of four words. They weren't either sweet or romantic. The letter simply stated:

Stay AWAY from him.

-o-

_Second chapter finished! I still think I'll rewrite some things and update others, but for now I'll leave it as it is. Tanks for the people who reviewed! And for the ones who read too! I really appreciate it _

_See you in next chapter!_


	4. Chapter Three

**Learn to Live Again**

**3. Circles**

Four days had passed since the threatening note. Rei wasn't scared at all, but felt a little nervous when she was alone in the classroom. Sometimes she even felt eyes following her everywhere.

This made her lose concentration on what she was doing. Once, she wasn't able to finish her biology practise paper and had to stay the whole break completing it. The following hour (maths) she had forgotten her calculator in the girl's room.

But what was worse, she didn't know if this threatening was directed to _her_ or not. Who was this person? Who was '_him_'?

Or the worst…

Was somebody stalking her?

Rei had begun watching around more carefully and checking her surroundings. If there actually was someone following her, she had to be prepared… or at least know who it was. Although the girl was aware that she needed to be alert, she didn't pay much attention in class any more. Maybe she should…

BUMP!

The girl fell. Before her stood the Suzuhara bully. He looked at the girl as if he had been looking for her all that time.

"Whoah! I'm so sorry, Ayanami!" he helped her to get up "I wasn't paying attention… sorry." And he smiled shyly.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Replied the ice faced girl.

"Well, catch ya later!" he turned around and walked away – giving a few little jumps meanwhile –.

Rei didn't realize what had just happened before she reached the closest door. '_Stop!_' she thought '_Has Suzuhara actually _apologized_ to someone?_' That was true. In a situation like that, he was more likely to say 'out of my way!' Or 'Watch your step, stupid!' Never an apology….

'_This is odd…_'

Right after Touji came Kensuke. He walked straight to her and smiled.

"Hey Ayanami! What's up?" she blinked. He kept smiling. "Have you seen Touji?" he then looked around.

"Yes. He has gone in that direction." She pointed behind her.

"Thank you!" a grin "see ya later! Oh! I forgot… there's something I'd like to a… er… nevermind!" the boy blushed and ran after his friend.

Rei just shrugged and continued her way. Some steps ahead Hikari was chatting happily with Shinji. Asuka was nowhere to be seen.

When the duo saw the girl approaching, the brunette smiled and called her.

"Ayanami! How's the investigation going? I've already got like ten papers full of information that could be useful…"

"… I've got seven." Was the bluenette's reply. "When will we put everything together?"

"Maybe tomorrow or the day after. What do you say?"

"It's fine." And she turned to walk away. The break was about to end and she still had a lot of classes to attend. Nothing special, but, since she began losing concentration, she wanted to be early at least, to settle her thoughts before anyone else arrived.

'Ok, let's see… I've got two major problems: this guy who's sending me flowers and this other person who threatened me once…' she searched her desk, but it was empty. Relieved, she opened her bag to take her pencil box, but her fingers reached something lighter and softer. A note. Six words:

**You BETTER stay AWAY from him!**

'Ok, now I've been threatened _twice_.' She sighed, a little more nervous.

There wasn't any mistake now. If the note had been left in her bag, it meant that this stalker knew her and her activities. But… there had to be something wrong! She wasn't close to _any_ guy in or outside school!

She thought for a minute. It was clear that _she _wasn't flirting with anyone. This lead to the obvious theory: somebody _was_ after her _and _there was a jealous person who couldn't stand this. If that person was a girl (it was almost obvious) and if she was really that jealous, this could be seriously dangerous. Mostly if the guy was popular or something…

Images of fights and tragic soap operas flashed in the girl's mind. Oh, god… why her? What had she done to deserve this?

"Uh… Ayanami?" a shy voice interrupted her thoughts. She blinked and met two brown eyes.

"… Aida? What can I do for you?" she spoke, relieved from having those stupid ideas cut off. He seemed a bit nervous.

"Well, I was wondering… if you… If you could help me with this literature homework!" he spat at last, face turning a bit pink.

"…" she looked at him for a few seconds and finally said "…Ok."

"Great!" he jumped and automatically sat next to her. "It's about the story 'The merchant of Venice'…" he showed her the book and opened it.

"I know that…" she observed and explained the lost guy everything there was to be known about the story. He seemed to concentrate only on certain aspects of her narration, and space out on others.

He then opened his folder and wrote the most important ideas. When the work was finished, he smiled widely and thanked her thrice.

Just when Rei was about to ask something to the boy, the rest of the class arrived.

"Kensuke! Where were you all this time?" asked an angry Touji "I thought we'd do this work together!" The other boy smiled innocently and adjusted his glasses.

"I've got it, don't worry." And they sat together and chatted about their lives before the teacher arrived.

"I'm sorry to be so late, class, but I had something else to do…" apologized Misato as she stepped into the classroom. Her hair looked a bit messy, as if she had just run two or three blocks, and her cheeks were a bit pink.

"HOT!" whispered Touji to Kensuke and both boys drooled silently. Hikari turned around and looked at the pair with a disapproving expression.

"Will they EVER grow up?" she wondered, clearly pissed.

The girl's complaints were interrupted by the teacher, who began her work as usual.

"Students! Let's check last class' exercise on the four conditionals!" everybody took out their folders "Shin-chan! Would you please read the first sentence?" and she smiled widely at him. The boy felt a bit uneasy and did as he had been told.

-o-o-o-

Rei couldn't sort out her priorities. She was too confused with these events to make any decisions. Why were these things such a big deal? These were normal things which happened to normal people who lived normal lives. But was she normal?

Well, she would have to solve one problem first: who was this mysterious Romeo?

There weren't actually any guys who had showed her any kind of affection or suspicious behaviours. Except for that day…

And this guy also had a girl after him! So Rei guessed this way it would be easier to find out who it was.

"Ok, the investigation starts today!" she thought aloud and went to the break.

-o-o-o-

"Ikari!" Touji called from the distance "so this is where you've been…"

Shinji quickly hid the papers he had been working on. He was alone in the school library; almost sure that nobody was around. He just looked at his feet.

"Suzuhara? What do you want?"

"Call me Touji, man!" he replied.

"Ok. How can I help you, Touji?"

"Oh, I just wanted to know when we could meet to finish this music thing. Kensuke asked me this morning and we need to know your activities… or at least your free times." He added at the sight of the other boy's worried expression.

"Well, it can be this afternoon and tomorrow's if you want… I haven't got anything to do…" he seemed eager to leave. Not noticing this (as usual) Touji asked:

"So, how about discussing it at lunch?"

"Erm… uhh…"

"Great! Catch ya later!" said the other and got up to leave. When he reached the door, he turned around and said "By the way, we're having lunch with the girls…" and disappeared.

Shinji just blinked, angry with himself for not being able to handle a normal conversation. The last time he had talked to Suzuhara and Aida was like five days ago, at Aida's. The boys clearly had trouble with music, the brunette noticed: they could hardly put their instruments in the correct position.

The boys only spoke about their work, not even mentioning each other's life matters. Shinji felt ok with this: he didn't want to talk about himself. He also noticed it was easier to have a conversation when the subject was objective and neutral.

Only one thing pissed Shinji: neither Touji, nor Kensuke helped to create anything: he had to write everything down and make them practise with him.

Of course, this took more time that it would have if the other two had worked, so the song was unfinished. Now he'd have to prepare something else not to loose so much time…

Worst of all, the credit would go to the three of them, and not just to him. He wasn't a genius-complex freak like Asuka, but at least he wanted the others to get what he deserved…

'What for, anyway?' he blinked angrily 'Like I care about this stupid school… I don't want _anyone_ to acknowledge me or anything. I'm perfectly fine on my own…' and now that he considered this weird duo…

'Curse those lazy-arses!' was his last thought before taking his music notes.

-o-o-o-

"… and then he was like 'OMG!' so I told him to…" Touji was the centre of attention in the little circle of students who had gathered for lunch. They were all laughing at the teen's story. The little group consisted of Suzuhara, Aida, Hikari, Asuka (in spite of her problems with Touji she had joined the group) and Shinji, who arrived a bit late.

"Sorry I'm late." He said, not even giving a reason. He sat between Kensuke and Asuka, who frowned and looked away. He sighed shyly and pretended that nothing had happened.

"Well, you almost missed the best part of my story!" Touji smiled.

"Want a sandwich?" offered Kensuke, taking this break as an opportunity to rest from his best friend's babbling.

"Uh… no, thank you." Shinji replied. He never shared his food or accepted any other's. He felt that the least familiar he became with other people, the better.

"Coke?" Touji only worsened the situation.

"No thanks. I've already got some water…" Shinji definitely didn't want anyone to pay too much attention to him.

"Yeah, Suzuhara's food might be infected!" snorted Asuka, like she wanted a reason to tease Touji.

"If you consider normal homemade food infected…" he snapped and didn't give her time to reply "Oh! I forgot your delicate stomach can only consume _imported_, _expensive_ ambrosias… so what are you doing here, anyway?"

Her reaction was immediate. She stood up and faced him, ready to punch him at any time.

"Jackass! I'm sure your cooking is as terrible as Ikari's!" Shinji chocked with his water and looked at her.

"What?" why was Asuka involving him in the fight?

"And what's with that? You mean you tried Ikari's food, huh?" teased the taller boy.

"Of course not!" she defended herself "But I can tell everything just by looking at it!" she then pointed to Shinji's poorly-prepared lunch box.

"And just who do you think you a…?"

"Excuse me." A girl cut the fight. "Can I join you?" They all looked at her. A short silence followed. She waited patiently with a neutral expression on her face.

"Of course! You can sit next to me…" offered Hikari, making some space for the newcomer. "So how's everything going, Ayanami?"

"Fine." She replied and fell silent. Everyone ate in silence and looked at each other. Asuka was clearly not finished with Touji, and they glared at each other, waiting for the best moment to attack. Shinji focused on his food and shut himself in his little world. Kensuke just ate and glanced at Asuka twice. He then looked at Rei for one second and returned to his food. Hikari tried to find a moment to cheer the group, as the silence felt rather uncomfortable. Rei just observed the others' behaviours.

'They all seem like they want to be anywhere but here.' Thought the ruby-eyed girl. 'I wonder if that is because of me…'

"Do you… always come here?" asked Rei, taking everybody by surprise. Glances were exchanged before the delegate replied:

"Well, no. Commonly I eat with Asuka and the other girls. Aida must eat with Suzuhara, and as for Ikari, I'm not sure…" she smiled slightly. "How about you?"

Rei didn't expect Hikari to ask such a question, but answered "I eat alone." Everybody looked at her, expecting her to say more. She didn't.

"Say Aida, have you got the music piece ready for next class?" asked the delegate, with high hopes on a fluid conversation between the six teens sitting in a circle.

"Well, actually we've got half of it…" he looked at Shinji "Ikari is helping a lot!" this last sentence made the boy look at the one speaking.

"And you, Langley?" asked Kensuke a bit shyly. She looked at him with a bored expression and replied that her work couldn't be going better and that they would all be very surprised when she performed it. She then proceeded to give explanations about how to play the violin correctly, eyeing Rei and Kensuke, who also played that instrument. No harm came to Hikari (though she was a violinist as well) as she was the girl's friend.

"… and I'm surprised that most people can't even hold the violin properly!" she concluded, as if it was the most interesting thing anyone had said. The boys felt quite attacked, but none spoke. Rei didn't even pay attention to the instructions, as they described Asuka's style and not hers.

Shinji was relieved that he wasn't a violinist: he didn't want to feel even more paranoid. Just why did Asuka pick on everybody like that? Wasn't she winning a number of enemies already?

The bell rang, putting an end to the boy's thoughts.

Next hour was Technology. Their professor was named Maya Ibuki and was too soft and shy to be a teacher. She was helping them with their science project that week, mainly because it was related to her subject and she and professor Akagi had arranged for them to work in her class too.

"I want you to take whatever information you've got and prepare at least three papers of your works." And her class went on without problems.

-o-o-o-

Again in Aida's home, Shinji explained his two classmates the new parts of his song. This time the boys seemed to pay more attention to him and didn't even complain when they were to read it. Although they had some trouble, Shinji tried to make the whole thing sound good and – in spite of himself – cheered the guys to try harder.

God, he felt so odd… he didn't like to do this at all, but if he wanted this to be over soon, he had to cooperate. Not that the others worked too much, anyway…

"Break! Break! I need to eat sumthin' yanno!" cried Touji, his stomach desperate to have an okonomiyaki. Kensuke nodded and stood up.

"I'll second that!" he took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt.

Shinji looked at them for a minute. He could tell they were exhausted and needing of a little break. He quietly put his papers on the low table that stood in front of him and sat on the carpet.

"Ok, go eat and come back." He said simply.

"YES!" Touji went out of the room and returned with sonme food in almost a split second. The boy offered Shinji an okonomiyaki, which he had to accept. Half of him wanted it, the other half didn't. Seriously, these days he was feeling rather odd.

Kensuke ate calmly while his friend practically swallowed his food without chewing enough. Shinji was amused to see how different these two guys were and wondered whether they tolerated each other despite or because of that.

'Maybe opposites get along too…' The duo sometimes seemed synchronized with their thoughts, others they would just argue about trivial matters. But all in all, they were best friends. Shinji wondered if he would find such a friend someday…

"You're so skinny, Ikari! Eat some more!" Kensuke brought him to reality, offering some cookies. This time Shinji accepted a bit more willingly. 'Maybe he's right…' the boy looked at Kensuke while he was drinking a glass of milk.

-o-o-o-

Rei had been practising for some time. Her melody was going quite well, but she felt it still needed to be improved. She seriously needed some more inspiration. Would it come some day? Like the day she had heard that song in the park…

She wanted to listen to it again. It had awakened so many feelings in her…

"Maybe it's because the one who was playing it had those same feelings…" and she felt sad. The song made her realize that she was lacking of the most important things in an artist: emotions and feelings.

All of her life she had just been apathetic, and nobody likes to be with dummies, right? Was this the reason of her loneliness? 'No, no!' an inner voice spoke 'It's because you've never _even_ cared about anyone else…' Another truth.

"Gimme a break."

And she positioned her violin in the right way and continued with her work. She took some notes and wrote on the pentagram until she had enough pages. Though harmonious, there was something missing.

But she went on. The mark wasn't important: what she was really looking for was… to improve.

'Try not only to improve your music, but also yourself." Another inner voice, but this time it wasn't hers. This sounded very calm and confident. It was rather familiar…

'I'm already going numb…' Rei sighed and continued with her melody.

When she was satisfied (not that much, anyways) she left her violin on her bed and went to her room's only window. From there she could only see the green from the parks and very few grey buildings. Some mountains were also visible. Out there grew the flowers… and talking about flowers…

She took the little flowers she had found under her desk and inside her book. She had kept them with great care, as they seemed to be a new part of her life. With the newest one in her hand, she just stared at the setting sun that made the sky colours shift in such a beautiful way.

'These flowers…' Yes. They meant that her life was finally changing.

And she smiled for a few seconds, before getting lost in thoughts again.

-o-

_Third chapter finished! (Seriously, this one was sort too; I'll rewrite EVERYTHING when I have some more time…)_

_Thanks to the people who faved my story! And for the ones who commented! I love to read your reviews! Thank you for reading!_

_RaineL._


	5. Chapter Four

**Learn to Live Again**

**4. The Poets**

Thursday. Most students liked Thursdays because they were close to Fridays and Saturdays. Rei was no different from them in this aspect. 'I wanna rest! This week and the previous have been too much for my poor head…' She thought as she got closer to the big white building that was her school. Soon she reached the black gates and entered, not expecting somebody to be waiting for her.

The boy smiled calmly as she froze, crimson eyes wide open. He just looked into her eyes for a while and then spoke:

"I'm sure your performance will be quite good!" his smile widened, if possible.

"Uh… what… you… I …" she babbled, not able to stare at those equally ruby eyes without losing concentration. No word was exchanged between them afterward. They both seemed hooked to the other's eyes in a timeless moment. None of them seemed aware that they had classes to attend.

_Riiiiiing!_

The sound of the bell made the bluenette return to reality. She broke their eye-contact and headed to the entrance, not daring to look back. Strangely, she still felt this guy smiling at her.

The first hour was English. Misato was early this time and handed them some practice papers. She announced that these were very important for the following exams and they needed to be prepared for anything.

"I'd rather be prepared for a date with her." whispered Touji, imagining the beautiful teacher in a nightdress.

"Stop drooling, you jerk!" beamed Asuka, who had heard that quite well. "You're lucky she is too absent-minded to listen to your stupidities!"

"Shaddup, bitch!" hissed the offended boy, dedicating her an offensive gesture as well. The girl did the same. Just when he was about to look away, he noticed Hikari looking at him, interested. He just glared at her and turned away. The girl returned to her papers.

"What's wrong with Horaki?" asked Kensuke "She usually tells you off… maybe Langley did all the work this time!" and he laughed.

"Silence over there, boys!" Misato smiled. She treated her students very well, but had her preferences too.

"Shin-chan, how are you doing?" she asked to an already nervous teen. She smiled at him and patted his back.

"Uh… I'm fine, thank you." He babbled. He felt so odd when _anyone_ asked him about himself…

"Well, if there's anything you need, just ask me!" and she left to check the other students' works. Touji whispered to him "You're so lucky, Ikari." Kensuke added: "Rocks to be you!"

And time went by, filling those irritating papers and looking at the young and cheerful teacher, who gave them a few more hints before the class ended. The break passed quickly as the students revised their notes for the following class.

When everybody was already in the music room, professor Aoba came in with a suspicious smile on his lips.

"Class! I've decided to test your creativity today! Don't be shy! I will only check the way you perform!" and his grin widened.

The teens felt like he was the Grim Reaper today, ready to take their fragile and delicate souls to an unbearable hell. Nobody really felt ready for this…

Commonly, they practiced well-known classical concerts, but this class would a bit different from the others: the professor had asked the teens to 'perform something of their own'. To make things worse, this was an _exam_.

"Crap!" choked Touji, almost letting hi cello fall. "I haven't practiced enough!"

Kensuke, next to him, just laughed. "Come on, Touji, it can't be that bad… Let's see what we've got!" but in his voice there was a clear tone of nervousness. He held his violin carefully, waiting for the professor's instructions.

"Ok, people! I'll call and you'll come in little groups or pairs to see how you do." Many gulped. "The first ones will be…"

Silence. Aoba smiled and then sentenced.

"Ikari, Suzuhara and Aida. Step forward, please." The tension broke.

Touji nearly collapsed. 'C-R-A-P!' he thought as he and the other boys advanced silently to stand in front of the whole class. Shinji just stared at his feet. Kensuke seemed to have found the ceiling suddenly interesting.

"Ok, begin when you feel ready!"

The three boys nodded silently and began the exercise. The song was first a mix of sounds and disorganized tunes (Touji messed up a few times), but as they continued, it became quite colorful and harmonic.

"Very good, boys! You see? At first they were unsure, but soon they became part of the same group…" Cheered the teacher when they finished. "Next… ok, Langley." he added as Asuka stepped like the last time. "And your partner is…?"

"I'll play _alone_, thanks." She hissed, still angry with her last performance.

Her song was rather aggressive and dominant, very suitable for a war cry. She played with her eyes closed, expecting to hear at least some 'oooh's.

When she was done, half of the class clapped and commented things like 'she's good!' and else. The others stared at her, impressed. This made the girl's ego grow at least four feet and three inches. The teacher joined the clapping, smiling.

"You've improved, Langley!" he beamed when the cheers were over.

Satisfied, she took her seat and smiled to Hikari, who seemed very pleased with her best friend's triumph.

Next was Hikari with two more girls, who played a bit badly, as they couldn't stop giggling and fidgeting. The following group was a bit similar to this, but instead of giggling the boys kept stopping and chocking to hide their laughter. The last one to be called was Rei, who had to perform alone (there wasn't anyone left when they had formed the groups in the previous class).

'Ok here we go.' Thought the girl, placing her violin expertly on her shoulder and beginning her song. 'One, two, three, four.'

It was rather melancholic at first, but after some time Rei felt like she was flying. She closed her eyes to listen better, trying to imagine at the same time. Her song seemed to take her far, far away…

'_I know you'll be alright…_'

Soon she was in another world, surrounded by snow. Yet, it was warm. There was nobody there with her, except for a tall boy whose wide smile made her feel uneasy. His eyes were as red as hers and his hair as silvery as the snow that fell slowly. Why didn't she feel the supposedly freezing crystals that flew around her? Maybe that person brought the warmth in the air…

Outside the classroom, a sole student passed by and stopped to listen. He didn't leave until the song ended.

When finally Rei opened her eyes, everybody was staring at her. There was a long silence, broken by the hands of the teacher, who began clapping slowly. Soon after everyone joined and cheered her.

"Ayanami, that was great!" said Aoba, clearly impressed. "I didn't know you had such a talent…!" and the cheers went on. The only one who wasn't happy at all was Asuka, who eyed Rei furiously all that time. She then walked away, followed by Hikari.

-o-o-o-

After surviving the Horrible Numbers class (Touji's quote) the students were ready to face Literature. Rei was looking forward to it and felt oddly happy after being praised by her classmates. This was too good to be true…

"Hello everyone!" Kaji's head popped from the classroom door before he came in. "I guess most of you have already finished your tomes already, huh?" he looked at the group of teens. None answered.

"Ah, I see you haven't. It's ok; we'll delay this work for…. One class!" a general moan of boredom was heard. "Even if you don't like it, you'll eventually have to do it, you know." And he sat on his desk. Before giving his planned instructions, he eyed the class once more. His eyes stopped on a certain girl and then he looked away. Getting up, he took a chalk and wrote a few exercises on the blackboard.

"Come on! Begin!" and he sat again.

Rei, unlike most of her classmates, had already finished Hamlet and was eager to read another story. She wasn't a bookworm, but reading was one of her hobbies. She loved Shakespeare's plays, poems, novels… almost anything. Next book… what would it be?

Like answering her mental questions, a book appeared in front of her eyes. The girl blinked and looked at it. It was real. No magically-popped-out imaginary book.

"It's the Dead Poets Society." A male voice nearly made her fall from her chair. The man was her professor, Kaji. He smiled, notoriously amused at his student's expression. "I assume you already finished Hamlet… so I brought you this!" the girl looked around. Nobody seemed aware of the little episode. That was good.

"Thank you very much!" she said while taking it. She looked at it before opening it. It was blue with golden letters which recited the tome's title. Kaji smiled one last time and walked away. Facing his class from his desk once more, he dedicated the rest of his time to help students with their doubts and else.

Rei opened the book happily (her smile absent, but happy) and scanned the pages before actually reading them. On the very first page there was something handwritten:

_I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do._

She laughed mentally about this and wondered whether the author of that comment had been her teacher or somebody else. Books were full of surprises…

Huh?

And talking about unexpected things, there was a little paper folded between the pages. This was also handwritten. It was different from the first one, though. It seemed scribbled by a rough hand… but it still looked good.

_Lunch. Library. Alone._

Definitely, full of surprises.

She almost laughed out loud now. Was that note _meant_ to be there? Rei was already getting used to mysterious notes and flowers, but none of them had actually indicated her to go somewhere. Besides, the book seemed to be Kaji's. Maybe he wanted to meet her? What? _Ha ha ha, like that's possible, Rei!_ Unlike the other girls, Rei didn't like Kaji in a romantic way: she just admired him as a teacher. Plus, he didn't seem the type to flirt with teens. The girl also doubted she had a special charm on boys: she was too invisible.

Folding the little paper and putting it away she looked around once more. Nobody seemed to have noticed: they were all talking and writing calmly. Good!

This made the girl think of all the spy movies she had watched sometime in her life. Top secret mission! The idea amused her, but she didn't show it on her face. This was out of the ordinary… it would have excited anyone…

Wait.

Was she beginning to feel like anyone? Like a normal person? What was going on?

_Hah, like you'll ever change!_ Laughed an inner voice, _Get over it, you'll always be a dummy!_

'I won't!' she replied mentally, but was a bit unsure of her answer.

-o-o-o-

Shinji sat alone near the school entrance. He was eating rather slowly, thinking. He suddenly saw Asuka fighting with Touji, a usual episode in his life. God, would she ever be nicer? Did she have to pick on everybody like that?

He then reminded her commentary about his cooking. He looked down at his lunch box. It looked better than the other one… 'What the hell? Why does it have to look good to _her_?' he frowned 'If she could afford a maid or somebody to cook for her, good! But Shinji had to learn to do al this by himself: there was nobody at home who could help him.

"Shin-chan!" Misato popped out of nowhere "So this is where you've been! I've been looking for you since lunch began." A smile crossed her pretty face. He didn't reply, so she went straight to the point: "Would you like to come with me? There's something I want to show you…"

"I… er… um…"

"Great!" and she took him by his right arm and walked towards the opposite side of the building. She looked rather happy.

"Um… professor Katsuragi…" he managed to say.

"Call me Misato."

"Fine, Misato. Where are we going?" he asked, feeling he was getting tinier with every step he took. She just smiled and kept walking till they reached their destination.

"What…?" was Shinji's last unfinished question before they entered.

-o-o-o-

Rei took a deep breath and looked at the school library doors for the third time. What was she supposed to expect? This wasn't normal.

Now holding her breath, she stepped forward and entered the dark building. Waiting for somebody to jump from the shadows and attack her – _what an imagination, Rei_! –, she walked cautiously, trying to see her surroundings. Very surprised was the girl when she saw her literature teacher sitting in front of her, smiling. Next to him sat the English teacher, Misato. Wait. Ikari was also there? And Langley too… What was this?

"Hello Ayanami." Greeted Kaji. "We were waiting for you… come, sit." And he offered a chair to her. She sat, closing the little circle the five persons made. _Another circle…_

"So… were you the one who wrote the note, professor?" asked Rei a bit doubtfully. The man just nodded and smiled.

"So she's the one you told me about…" commented Misato, smiling at the girl too "She's very good in my classes too…" she was about to go on, but Asuka stood before the two adults and spoke, offended.

"Can we start this meeting now? We're supposed to talk about important matters… not just chat about… _things_." And she sat, satisfied with the results: Kaji smiled at her and told her that she was right.

"Ok, you may not know, but Misato and I sometimes gather a few number of students who have outstanding artistic aptitudes…" he looked at the three teens "This is not an elite group, though. We have our meetings at lunch, and we talk about art in general. That is, of course, if you want to join. I believe that your art, guys, can be an important element of your lives, but I repeat: you're free to go if you don't want to be part of this…" and he fell silent. Misato looked at them and imitated Kaji.

"I'm in!" stated Asuka before anyone else could talk. "I love the idea!" and grinned.

"… Me too." Said Rei after a minute or two.

"I…" Shinji was unsure, but after eyeing the four persons around him, he said: "Yeah, I'll join you too."

"Great!" jumped Misato, hugging the three of them "You know, commonly we don't get many students to join us, but I'm happy this year we have the three of you." She looked at the literature teacher. Kaji smiled at her.

So a brief talk about Shakespeare's works took place. At first Shinji and Rei just listened, but then Misato encouraged them to give their own opinions. They did.

"… And talking about writers, there's also this guy here at school, who I think would be great to join us." Commented Kaji after a while. "I don't know him much, but I know he has impressed many teachers with his ideas and analysis. I think his name was…" he looked at Misato. She looked back at him.

"You mean the boy named Nagisa?" she asked.

"That's it! Kaworu Nagisa!" he clapped "Thanks, hun." This made the woman giggle.

"So what's with this guy?" inquired Asuka.

"He's very intelligent, as we already mentioned…" replied the man in front of her. "He's a senior, so he must be a year older than you three. I never see him around… he woke up my curiosity." And he laughed.

Rei didn't know what they were talking about. She didn't know this guy…

"You mean the silver-haired freak?" snapped Asuka, winning Rei's attention. _What did she just say?_ "It can't be him!" finished Asuka.

"Why do you say that?" asked Shinji, a bit angrily. Rei wondered.

"Cause I've seen him a few times. He's always smiling stupidly at everyone! He always seems as calm as if he had Heaven granted! Plus, he's got those creepy red eyes… like Ayanami's!"

Rei blinked. There was no mistake this time. It was _him_. Feeling a strangely, the silent girl looked at Asuka, then at Shinji. Her eyes turned then to the two teachers.

"Maybe he's a bit odd…" began Misato.

"A bit." Snorted Asuka.

"But he's quite good in my class. He's got the highest marks… at least with me." And she got lost in thought.

"Anyways, guys, if any of you sees him, please tell him about our little group, will ya?" Kaji looked at them once more.

"Why can't you do it, professor?" asked Shinji.

"Because I've got quite a lot of things to do." He eyed Misato for a split second and continued "And I think it'd be better if you invited him. I don't want him to feel forced."

And then they returned to the Shakespeare subject. Asuka commented some interesting things about the plays 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Macbeth'. Shinji could only add a few ideas about how he saw 'The taming of the Shrew'. Rei didn't speak any more.

Ten minutes before lunch ended the teachers dismissed their students and told them that the next meeting would be announced later either at English or Literature class.

Asuka was the last one to leave, and seemed content with herself. She sang quietly and danced a bit before reaching the school's main building. Shinji just walked, looking at his shoes. He didn't speak. Rei seemed totally absent and scanned the campus a few times before returning to her normal activities.

-o-o-o-

"Ikari! I saw you talking to professor Katsuragi today… at lunch!" Touji came happily. "Getting intimate?" he joked, a hint of jealousy in his voice. The boy just glared at the bully.

"Ikari!" spat Kensuke "I'd love to be in your place! How did you get her attention! TELL ME!" he nearly reverenced the confused boy, who stared at his two classmates for a while. He got up from his seat and said.

"Look, I don't know. I'm going." And he walked away. This was the first time Shinji left the classroom with everyone else to go home. The other two stared at him.

"Hey, Touji. I think he's hiding something from us…" the two friends looked at each other for a while. Then Hikari came to them with an angry look in her face. They didn't notice her until she spoke:

"Suzuhara and Aida, it's your turn to clean and tidy up the classroom."

"Curse the obedient shrew…" muttered Touji. Hikari had only heard the last word, but that was enough to make her tell him off for his bad behavior and all those things the boy was used to hear from her. Never a compliment. Only this and that, what he should do… Man. This was getting really tiring.

"Come on, Touji. The sooner we begin, the sooner we'll leave." Half-cheered the boy wearing glasses.

"Hmm… but we're getting Ikari after this."

-o-o-o-

Hikari stood in the middle of the corridor. There was nobody else around. She looked very uneasy, twisting and folding a little paper she had in her hands. The girl looked around several times, like expecting somebody to come and yell at her.

'The students should be leaving the building now' she thought, still playing nervously with the now partially torn paper.

Suddenly a shadow appeared far away in the corridor. It was coming in her direction. Judging the silhouette, it was a girl. This made the brunette feel even more nervous.

The other was now visible: it was the Ayanami girl.

'Shit!' she thought as the blue-haired girl came closer. She wasn't even looking in front of her, as if she was lost in thought.

"Um… Ayanami." Hikari interrupted the other girl's inner maze. She blinked twice before acknowledging her and asked.

"What?" Coldly, as usual.

"Well…" the brunette fidgeted a bit before gathering the courage to speak again. She looked rather reluctant. "It's about the musical instruments. You see… the door to the storage room should be closed…" she paused.

"Yes." The ruby-eyed teen waited patiently for the other to continue.

"Well, I came here just now. Yes. Just now…" another pause, longer than the previous.

"…" Time passed slowly.

"I… err… I found the door opened." She looked at her feet. Rei stared at her.

"And?" there wasn't any color in her voice, but Hikari assumed she was already getting impatient. She had never seen Rei show any emotion, but still she didn't want to try to see her angry or disappointed.

"You better see by yourself…" and the brunette turned around and ran away, never looking back.

Very confused, Rei entered into the room. The door was, in fact, unlocked. That was rather strange. Commonly the room was closed until the music classes, or whenever a student needed to get his or her instrument. In that case, he or she had to look for the hall monitor or something like that to open the door for them.

There wasn't any particular reason for the rules, but it was almost obvious that many could just enter and steal something to sell it later. 'After all, classical instruments were very expensive these days.' Rei thought as she entered the room.

It was a bit dark, but she could see without turning the lights on. Many boxes were piled on the farthest corners, probably containing drums or bongos. _Who would play those?_ The girl wondered. Before the boxes stood many cello and bass cases. Big and heavy things were put on the bottom, always. Then there were the violas, trumpets, clarinets, flutes and violins.

Rei needed to take hers to continue her music at home.

Every case and box had the name of the owner in a label: this way nothing got lost or stolen. Rei had hers in bright red letters, so she would tell it from the others in no time. She didn't like to waste her time.

Carefully looking for her violin the girl came across a little torn paper. It wasn't bigger than a coin, probably a part of something much bigger. Paying no attention to it, she folded it ant tossed it in the closest corner.

She then remembered Hikari's nervousness. There wasn't anything wrong with the place, she noticed. Looking around for a few seconds, Rei could not find anything out of its place. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then why did the delegate panic like that? _Another rhetorical question to ask God when I die_, she sighed and continued searching… but she stopped.

"If I get to see God." She thought aloud.

When she finally found her violin, Rei saw what Hikari meant. There was definitely something wrong with the case. She began to worry.

The little black padlock was missing.

The girl instinctively looked for the room's trash box and walked toward it. There was an open white plastic bag inside. At the bottom, a little black square spot could be seen. Her padlock.

Returning to her violin case, she opened it desperately. _Desperate? Me, desperate?_ She thought before letting out a quiet scream. More of disgust than surprise. But clearly a shock. The girl took out the fragile instrument in disbelief, wishing that when she could see it clearly, everything would just be her imagination.

But there was no mistake. The light was enough to tell a string from another…

And talking about strings…

The four silvery strings of her precious violin were missing.

Irritated for the first time in her life, she looked for the ones she saved in case any of the originals got cut or anything, but none was found.

The fact wasn't very preoccupant: the problem could be solved. But the question was worth analyzing.

Who had done that and why? Her name was labeled on the case…

"So this was definitely directed to me."

-o-

_There goes the fourth chappie. Last week I wasn't here so I'm posting it now. Thanks for all the people who are reading and reviewing! It's very nice to get reviews!_

_I'm already working on next chapter, so I don't think you'll have to wait too much._

_Thank you_

_RaineL._


	6. Chapter Five

**Learn to Live Again**

**5. Under Pressure**

Going to the city centre wasn't one of her favorite activities, but Rei had to get new strings for her poor violin. She had been lucky that only the strings had been attacked: she had checked and the soul was still in its place. 'Thank God' she thought 'I can't afford a new violin.'

She took the bus to get to the main streets of the city. She knew well where the music store was. Two squares t the north, turn left and continue for three more squares… she knew the directions by heart. As the girl didn't frequent such crowded places, she looked for them in local maps or memorized her little number of visits. The bus stop left her not too far away from the place, so she walked.

The streets were cramped with cars and people filled almost every space. Seriously, Tokyo wasn't the best place for claustrophobic people.

Just the city centre was enough to meet anyone but the people you knew. Rei was ok with that. Being invisible was her trademark feature and habit, and there was no better place for it than Tokyo.

Finally in the tiny store, the girl had to wait a bit to ask for the needed four strings and other four, if she needed to replace them in the future.

Many teens discussed about the best looking guitars and electric basses. Some punks chatted oblivious to their surroundings. They were blocking the way. Rockers and pop music followers insulted each other and argued about their style. Techno musicians looked closely at the latest electronic devises and complained about the prices.

Though there were so many music styles and fashions in the place, Rei didn't fit. As usual, she seemed out of place. Why? Mainly, she was wearing her uniform. Secondly, she wasn't with anyone and was completely silent, looking bored. Not that anyone noticed her, anyway.

This was taking forever. The shop assistants (which happened to be just two) couldn't assist everyone at a time, so a short queue had been formed. Rei was the last one.

She sighed and began thinking about the incident. Why would anyone take her strings? Why would anyone bother in harming her indirectly like that? Maybe that person was lacking strings and found her case by chance and took them… No. That wasn't a credible argument. So why the strings? If that person really wanted to cause her grief, he or she could have just broken the violin, damn it! Both ideas seemed equally acceptable now…

A hand took her shoulder lightly.

"I didn't expect to find you here." A male voice said. The girl turned. She knew the owner of those words! She wasn't sure why, but she felt a bit nervous.

Yes, confirmed. It was him.

"Your name is Kaworu Nagisa." She simply said, without even a greeting. The silver haired teen just smiled.

"Yes. Yours is Rei Ayanami." He replied.

"How did you know?" she was curious, very curious.

"I read it in the first page of your book. Hamlet." So simple. How could she have forgotten about that? Of course he knew her name.

"…" she stared at him for a while. Their eyes didn't meet in another timeless moment like the last time, but there was some magic in the air.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked. Cool as usual.

"I came to get strings for my violin." Her coldness felt odd to her now. He laughed.

"Did you play too hard?"

"Somebody took them. Even the ones I was storing for emergency." She looked away. The queue was getting shorter.

"Say, how was the performance? I heard you did quite well!" the boy smiled at her once more, but then he looked away. He suddenly seemed interested in something else.

"I…" Rei began, but then fell silent. She followed the other teen's gaze and found the keyboards. He walked towards the nearest one and examined it carefully. He smiled to himself as he mumbled something the girl could not hear and placed his hands on the keys. He began to play a song that couldn't be heard well in the distance.

So Rei got closer. She was curious. She loved music. She wanted to hear Nagisa's song. The girl tried to get his attention, or at least know what that melody was, but he seemed completely absent. His eyes were now closed as his fingers moved from here to there, bringing life to wonderful tunes that could take anyone to Neverland in no time.

Before Rei could notice, the two of them were surrounded by the shop customers and curious people, who listened silently and stared at the pianist in admiration.

All of a sudden, the song was over. Everyone clapped, including Rei. Kaworu smiled innocently and said nothing. He then made his way to the shop assistants and talked to him. He called Rei after this and asked her for some money. The girl was still a bit numb and handed him her wallet.

Soon the two of them were walking on the streets with two sets of violin strings for Rei. None of them looked at the other, but they both felt very optimistic. Finally Rei broke the silence, something quite rare in her.

"You play very well. I really liked that song…" she slowly turned her head to look at him, but he was facing the street. "Where did you learn it?"

His eyes moved to hers and he replied:

"I invented it. While I was playing, I just did as I felt in the moment." As simple as that. Oh God.

"… Oh." She felt so stupid…

The two walked past several shops and stores, but they paid attention t none. Suddenly Kaworu looked at Rei and offered:

"Hey, wanna go for an ice cream or something?" The girl gasped, surprised with the sudden invitation. As _simple_ as _that_. Oh God, _again_. He wanted to take her to eat? Of all people, Rei Ayanami?

"Huh?" she stared at him.

"_Huh_ what? I'm hungry…" he didn't seem interested in the subject at all, but looked amused. His expression was almost unreadable sometimes, even when asking such personal questions… Wait. Asking for a meal wasn't personal… Ok, maybe a bit…

"… Ok." She hesitated a little. She had never bee asked for an ice cream before.

Kaworu just smiled. He walked on without any trace of doubts. He seemed to know quite well the place, unlike his partner… But Rei kept her monotone silence. She didn't ask or look around. Somehow the girl trusted the silver haired youth.

After a couple of minutes the pair reached the bar and restaurant area of the centre. The streets were now half empty. That was good: too many people would have been a problem.

"I'll get the ice creams. What do you want?" offered the ruby eyed boy. Rei told him that any fruit taste would be ok to her and he left her waiting on a bench. Soon she noticed there was somebody else she knew standing right across her.

Four pair of eyes looked at her. Yes, they were her classmates.

"Eh… hello Ayanami." Greeted Shinji Ikari, as he, Asuka, Touji and Kensuke got close to her. He seemed very hesitant at first. Asuka took the opportunity to speak:

"My, my. If it isn't the dummy." Somebody glared at her, but she paid no attention. "What are you doing here, may I ask?"

"… I just came to get something."

'A real dummy…' thought Asuka, who didn't say a word afterward.

The group stood there for a couple of minutes before they decided to sit. The bench wasn't big enough for the five, so two of them, Shinji and Touji, remained standing. They chatted for a while, completely oblivious of their surroundings. Asuka looked at Rei and commented:

"Hikari couldn't come today, so I had to stick with this bunch of idiots…" she sounded more like she was explaining a mess which she wasn't guilty of. 'But why does she?' Wondered Rei. 'I'm sure she knows I don't care…'

"By the way, Ayanami, I saw you with a guy just now… who is he?" she asked teasingly.

"…"

The little group eyed her curiously. None of the boys had noticed Kaworu. Rei was already getting uncomfortable with all the questioning and staring. She would have rather heard them talk about their own issues and else… why did the topic have to be Rei Ayanami now? There were surely a lot more of interesting subjects out there, waiting to be discussed…

"Back. Sorry if I took long." A silver head popped behind the observing four. Rei was relieved: Nagisa was back! He would surely have the solution to that mess: the girl was sure he would guide them out of the current topic into another one. An _impersonal _one.

Kaworu handed Rei her ice cream (which turned to be strawberry, one of her favorites) and happily ate his (chocolate). He greeted the others rather absently, as if they knew each other from a long time, and stared at the horizon. The group was very surprised with this attitude.

"Ahem…" Asuka cleared her throat "You must be Nagisa…" he nodded, his eyes unfocused.

The lack of verbal reply annoyed the ginger. She then got up and stood right in front of the older teen. He blinked and looked at her blue eyes.

"What?"

"You haven't introduced yourself." She spat.

"Well, I can guess you already know my name." He shrugged.

"But… don't you want to know _ours_ at least?"

"Maybe. That'd be useful sometime…" and his eyes got lost again. The girl glared at him before returning to her place in the bench. "I can't believe Kaji-kun wants this idiot in his little group…" she muttered.

Shinji seemed to be the only one who heard this, because he gave the girl a '_don't be impolite_' look. The boy then looked at the silver haired more carefully. He seemed to be…

"What are you thinking about, Nagisa?" the words slipped from his mouth, just like that. He didn't notice he was thinking aloud.

"Huh?" Kaworu turned to find a fidgeting, embarrassed Shinji. The boy suddenly apologized (for what?) and stared at his feet.

Kaworu smiled again and returned to the remains of hi ice cream. Once he finished it he went to Rei.

"I have to go now. Must take care of some business. Do you mind?" she looked at him surprised and said 'no' with her head. "Good. I was hesitating, but if you're ok with these guys, I'll go." And he turned around to leave, but a hand stopped him.

"Stop!" a girl's voice said. "Tell us. Would you like to join an elite group of talented and gifted students?" the question sounded more like an order than an invitation. Asuka was so demanding…

"Mr. Kaji's?"

"Yes… Wait! How did you know?" she looked even more demanding.

"I just knew." He replied "Well, right now I'm not interested. Maybe in a couple of weeks…" and he left before she could ask any more questions.

"That was… _odd_." Touji spoke for once. Everyone except Rei looked at him. "What?"

"You're odder, Touji. You didn't even speak when Nagisa came. That's not like you…" Observed Kensuke, looking at the place where the older teen had disappeared. Touji frowned.

"Neither did you!"

-o-o-o-

Tuesdays came with a lot of sports. Boys and girls practiced separately, another school rule. Maybe it was because the girls wore those shorts…

Anyway, Rei didn't enjoy gym much. She'd much rather walk or even swim: playing volleyball and basketball always made her feel too tired afterward. That day she was feeling a bit blue, to add more color to the situation. Sighing lightly, she remembered.

In the end Rei had finished her ice cream while returning home with Ikari, Langley, Aida and Suzuhara. She was already feeling down because it had been the first time a boy had invited her to something, and she couldn't even thank him properly. She hadn't said a word after Nagisa's departure and slipped from her captors seven blocks from her house.

On Monday she didn't even greet anyone and sat confused with her thoughts…

"Hey Ayanami!" Hikari's voice brought her back to the present. "You're not even looking at the ball!"

They were in the middle of volleyball practice. The bluenette hadn't noticed till then. She mumbled some apology and tried to concentrate. She wasn't too good at sports, especially _team_ sports. No wonder, being the lone wolf she was.

'Ok, maybe the word _wolf_ is a bit out of place…' she thought.

A white sphere flew through the air and hit her straight on her forehead. Rei almost fell.

"Are you daydreaming today, Ayanami?" snorted Asuka, a few steps from her. Hikari and the others couldn't help laughing.

"…" Rei's expression didn't change. She took the ball and passed it to her teammates. As long as she didn't have it, everything would be ok.

The game went on normally, with some amazing scores made by Asuka, who was the star player of her team, and miserable blockings and passes by Rei. Hikari played quite well and tried to help hear teammates as much as possible. Like their lives depended on that.

When the class was over, everyone left, except for Rei and Hikari. The brunette looked rather guilty. Taking a few steps to the girl with the hair of sky, Hikari spoke:

"Ayanami… you played… quite well today!" oh, man. That didn't sound convincing at all…

"…" Rei wasn't stupid. She knew she had done far from good. What the hell! Far from acceptable!

"Well, you can improve, you know?" she tried to look more serious now. "If you practice, everything will be ok." And she passed the ball to the scarlet eyed teen.

Rei just looked at the ball, then at Hikari.

"Do you have anything to do now?" the brunette inquired.

"… No."

"Great! Then we can play… for a while…" the delegate was now a bit hesitant.

Rei stared at her for some time. Deciding she had to change something in her life, and not just wait for the changes to come, she just replayed 'Ok'. So they played.

Not believing her quick improvements, Rei began to actually enjoy what she was doing. Or was it because Hikari saved every ball with ease? _Maybe spending time with other people is not that bad…_

"You're getting it, Ayanami!" cheered the brunette.

The other just smiled shyly, then with some more confidence. She hit the white ball with a bit more strength, trying to aim at her partner… but failed. The shot went straight past Hikari… and hit a boy. Touji Suzuhara, to be precise.

The teen turned quickly with an exaggerated frown on his face. When he spotted the two girls, he went straight to them, ignoring Kensuke, who was following and asking questions. Rei apologized for her miscalculation, but the boy glared at Hikari.

"She says she's sorry, Suzuhara!" the brunette stated.

"Was she the one who shoot? I thought it was you!" he pointed at her.

"Well, I wasn't. What' the big deal, anyway?" she looked rather annoyed now.

"Ayanami surely did well." Touji eyed Rei for a few seconds "It was _you_ the one who didn't catch it!" Hikari got angrier.

"Can it be possible that you're such a jerk!" the delegate was now shouting.

"Geez… can't you be more _feminine_ or calm… like Ayanami?" Touji looked somehow serious. He then snorted and walked away.

But Hikari wasn't finished.

"I'm the way I _am_! If you don't like it, then _get lost_!" she roared.

"That's _exactly_ what I'm doing." He laughed and took Kensuke by the arm before 'getting lost'.

The two girls were now alone on the pitch. Hikari almost forgot Rei was there too.

"He's such an idiot…" she turned around and almost shrieked when her brown eyes met a pair of crimson ones.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Ayanami. Really. I didn't expect…"

"It's ok." Rei cut off. "I don't mind." And they silently walked to the girl's restroom to get changed. Hikari acted rather strange since the incident and didn't even say bye when she went away. Rei didn't mind this either, but she felt something wasn't right.

"Whatever. It's not my problem…"

And she walked home.

-o-o-o-

"I'm sorry this meeting was this sudden, but there are some important things I'd like to discuss before the exams." Said Kaji with a carefree smile.

"You brought us here to give us studying tips?" asked Asuka in disbelief.

"No, no… I just want you to relax before the testing time, so you'll do better. Remember your mind has to be well trained and 'athletic', always." He replied, handing the teens some papers.

They eyed them curiously in silence. Only Asuka seemed alive that day: the meeting had just begun and she was already questioning and giving opinions.

"But I don't need this… I'm sure I can handle it myself…"

"I'm sure you can, Langley…"

"Call me Asuka, Kaji-kun!" the girl smiled and Misato eyed her oddly.

"…Ok, Asuka. Well, I know you can, so I'm just giving these lists of authors, books and music for your mind's good. Surely you'll feel tired after studying or an exam. This is just to keep you in good mental shape!"

She didn't speak this time: the ginger looked now very happy.

"Yes." Kaji replied an inexistent question "I care for my students."

Then he got up and left the three teens reading the lists he gave them. Misato followed. They entered a little room which had nothing but a plain desk and a chair. The man sat there waiting for the purple haired woman to join him. He lit a cigarette, which she took and threw through the window.

"What?" he didn't look annoyed or upset.

"I'm just worried about those three. Well, more about Asuka."

"And why is that?"

"You can tell! She's intelligent and everything, but makes the others feel a bit inferior…" Misato wasn't sure about her worries herself.

"We're her teachers, not her psychologists." He looked away.

"I know, but I think making those three work together or something may help them with their personal problems…" she walked around the room.

"Well, we've got quite a colorful group, if that's what you mean. Shinji's very shy. Asuka's a bit too impulsive. Rei's antisocial. But if they don't want to change, there's nothing to be done…" he crossed his arms and looked at the walls.

"Well, in my classes I noted Rei getting over her antisocialism a bit. She's talking with other students, you know. Did you give her any special book or something? Maybe she's influenced." She stopped and looked at the farthest corner. Silence came to the place for a few seconds.

Kaji slowly stood and went next to the English teacher. He put a hand on her left shoulder and made her turn so she would face him.

"Do you really think it's the books? Or maybe there is something else we're missing?" he looked serious.

The only lamp in the room showed signs of getting weaker. Was everything _that_ old in the school library?

"Maybe. But what do you _really_ want by doing these meetings, Riouji?" the woman looked into his dark eyes. He stared for a while and took a breath before answering.

"The same as you. There's something special in those kids… and it'd be good to make it come out."

"But that's not what I'm thinking about. What I meant was-" she complained, but was silenced bi Kaji's soft fingers.

"I know, Misato. But my way of doing this is through art." He smiled briefly.

"Kaji."

"Yes?"

"What about you?" she looked at her feet.

"Me? Well, I'm fine…" he was getting amused with those questions of hers.

"No! Not that…" she sighed. Kaji nodded and wrapped his arms around the woman's shoulders. She hugged him back.

They stayed like that for what seemed hours…

"Kaji!" Asuka's voice came form the corridor, making the two adults let go abruptly. The girl entered the room to find the couple looking at the floor, expressionless. Asuka couldn't figure what was so interesting about their shoes…

"Kaji! I wanted to talk about these bands… the books you listed also seem interesting, but I'd like you to tell me something about them before borrowing…" she took him by the arm and dragged him out of the room. Misato sighed and sat on the abandoned chair, thinking. Hard times were coming.

-o-o-o-

Everyone returned to their classrooms early after lunch. The teachers would be delivering the exam timetables soon.

"I hope we get maths first…" begged Touji. Kensuke eyed him curiously.

"Why?"

"Because we'll get rid of it sooner… I don't wanna worry more than necessary these following weeks…" he looked very tired.

"Like you ever study for anything…" half-joked the boy wearing glasses. His friend joust glared at him before saying:

"This year I need good grades… or at least acceptable one, or my dad will put me to work!" and the two stared at the blackboard, which was empty.

Rei was busy with the newest note she had found under her desk. It said:

_This week I'll be busy. Sorry._

'And the days keep going weirder…' the girl thought and folded the paper. She proceeded to open her folder and take a few notes before reading the timetables. Exams would begin the following week, so she'd have to study from that afternoon on.

'Let's see… first we've got science…' and she wrote the subjects she'd need to revise more. Then maths…

Shinji was looking at his copy too. He just doodled on a blank paper. On the front seats Asuka and Hikari planned studying meetings. Concentrated, as usual.

When the class was finally over, Rei got up quickly and headed toward the door, but she had to wait for everyone else to go out because they were blocking the way. She never tried to go with the group: it was already a usual thing to her.

When the last student left the girl walked out of the room, noticing there was somebody following her. Turning around, Rei found a nervous Hikari who looked as if she had just been caught stealing. She opened her mouth and then closed it. Clearing her throat, the brunette spoke:

"Eh… Ayanami…" she looked around, like looking for somebody or something that would help her.

"Yes?" the other replied dryly.

"I was wondering if… if you wanted to come to my house this afternoon…" she fell silent, waiting for an answer.

"That's… now, right?"

"Er…" Hikari consulted her watch "Yes!"

Rei thought for a second. Her parents wouldn't return home till midnight that day, they had told her when she got up, so there wouldn't be any problems.

"Ok."

"Great!"

-o-

_Whew, done! Sorry I took so long to write this chapter… but with all the celebrations and family stuff, I bet you've been busy too. I hope you have enjoyed these days and are having a good time now. Now that I'm working on two stories you can check my bio for news and else!_

_Anyways, review!_

_And thank you for reading!_

_RaineL._


	7. IMPORTANT!

**IMPORTANT!**

Hello everyone! In case you haven't checked my bio (the news section) I'm going away for some time (I don't know how long) so my stories (LtLA and TSoHA) won't be updated this month and the next at least, due to the incoming work and studies. BUT I'll write as much as I can whenever I find some free time, so please don't get mad at me. This is something we all have to do sometime in our lives.

Thank you for everything!

RaineL.


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